STEAM challenges Virtual Studio WEDNESDAY 4:00pm to 5:00pm
Grades 4 and 5
In this 5-week inquiry-based, interactive, and hands-on STEM challenge bundle, elementary school students will learn to think and work as real engineers do.
I will use the Engineering Design Process to help students create their own unique solutions to real-world problems.
The engineering design process follows six steps - ASK questions about the problem, BRAINSTORM ideas to solve it, choose one idea and draw it to DESIGN the solution, then BUILD ( what fun !!), TEST, and IMPROVE your solution before coming to the exciting part - SHARING your own unique solution with your friends.
We meet once a week for an hour.
My expertise in this area comes from teaching these STEM challenges in my Brick and Mortar classrooms for the past 5 years.
As students progress through each lesson, they learn about science concepts through an inquiry-based process where they ask and answer questions about natural phenomena sprinkled throughout the lesson, making this experience very interactive.
All my lessons are created on an online collaboration tool called the PADLET, so students can view the interactive content, record their answers and collaborate with each other during brainstorming.
All students will get free access to my website www.theboldinventors.studio to access all the lessons.
Students do not require to create a padlet.com account to do any of the lesson-related activities. However, if you do decide to create an account please make sure it's done using a parent email address.
Each lesson will start with a story that introduces the student to a real-world problem through our characters who are part of the bold inventors' team. Students also learn about important science concepts through stories sprinkled throughout the lessons.
We will start the session with a lesson about the science behind wildfires where students will use Project-based learning to build a fire triangle, break the fire triangle, and then share their project with other students for questions and feedback. Students will also conduct a science experiment to understand more about the components that create the fire triangle.
Next, we work on a reforestation challenge. Students will be introduced to the real-world problem by the bold inventors' team who are trying to figure out how to help Baker Cypress cone, a very rare tree cone found in northern California, disperse its seeds after multiple hot wildfires devastate the forest. Students work on building a model device that can disperse the maximum number of seeds to the maximum distance possible for successful reforestation.
Next, take our NASA-inspired challenge by building a soft landing system for Renee Rover. In this STEM challenge, students will use what they learn about gravity, forces, and shock absorbers to design and build a shock-absorbing system that will provide a safe landing for Renee the rover when she lands on Mars.
Our fourth challenge gets the students involved in a slope rescue challenge along with the bold inventors' team.In the lesson the students first get introduced to the bold inventors team, Gracie gravity, Marty motion, Fabio force, and Freya Friction.In the process get introduced to the concepts of force, motion, gravity and friction.
Students start by following the story of the bold inventors' team on a rescue mission. The story ends with an unsolved question that the students are required to solve by conducting their own experiments and observations.
Finally, for our last lesson, students will help Gracie keep her frozen treats from melting by building a better (insulated) lunchbox. . We will start by introducing the students to the real-world problem through a story involving the bold inventors team.
The lesson uses an inquiry-based discussion centered around different phenomena to understand heat flow before students start planning and building their solutions. During the brainstorming step, the students get introduced to the concepts of insulators and conductors through characters like Izzie Insulator, Cody conductor, and Manny Mitt that make their learning journey fun and engaging Materials needed for this project are everyday art materials that can be found easily in your home.
I have been hosting these Hands-on lessons in physical classrooms for many years. Now I have adapted them to my online platform "The Bold inventors Studio" so students can continue to stay engaged with this program without losing the collaborative and interactive elements of the program. As always, Students' creative and innovative solutions never cease to amaze me. I learn something from my students every single time. I look forward to the fun and excitement in class as we all innovate together.